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We put a darn nice highly salable item on Ebay with professional graphics and a lovingly crafted product description. We include our 800 number and the fact that we've been in business for 75 years.
If we're lucky we get two or three bidders, the highest of which just about covers OUR WHOLESALE COST.
But then, I'm not a bored stay-at-home mommy who wants her friends to think she's running a business.
For most REAL business, selling on EBAY stinks.
Here's a 2006 quote on the subject of Ebay "gambling addiction" from FoxNews.
Part of the draw of the Internet auction house is the fact that competing for a desired item feels a little like playing blackjack or the slot machines in Atlantic City or Vegas."It's like gambling," said Rich -----, who works as a teacher when he's not perusing eBay.
But eBay die-hards say bidding is even better than gambling.
We put a darn nice highly salable item on Ebay with professional graphics and a lovingly crafted product description. We include our 800 number and the fact that we've been in business for 75 years.
People on ebay are not looking for things at a price a respectable retailer is happy with. Showing that you are a respectable and established retailer with a professional outfit makes bargain hunters think that there is no way they will be getting a bargain.
Try making a new account 'jsinger_loft', making the advert brash and unprofessional, and don't mention that you are a 'real' retailer at all. Include a comment such as "my son tells me they work great with the foo brand of widget".
Just remember that implying that goods are stolen is a sure way to shift items! The same logic applies here. Bidders must think it's a bargain.
jsinger, you don't believe there are real businesses making hundreds of thousands (if not millions) on eBay?
A few years ago the WSJ did an article on "professional" sellers. Mostly they focused on one family from rural West Virginia who devoted almost every waking hour to Ebay. As I recall, the WSJ figured the whole clan made about $25,000 yearly on Ebay, which certainly improved their life and beat sending the boys off to coal mining jobs.
That story was probably more typical of a real "Ebay Success Story."
I suspect the profitability of Ebay selling has declined markedly SINCE that story. The last time I checked Ebay 18 months ago, margins had further deteriorated and more products were going bid-less.
I doubt there's a single ecommerce retailer who hasn't tested Ebay: Do you have an "Ebay success story?"
Ebay is a big customer for the search engines like adwords and overture, but I don't think they realize how those ad dollars they receive from ebay eat away at the profit margins of the rest of their customers. If sites that pay for traffic didn't loose sales to ebay, they'd have more money for more advertising.
If you suddenly had a 10% iincrease in conversion rates, wouldn't that justify ane awefully big increase in advertising?
I believe she spends 6-8 hours of her 5 day work week dealing with eBay related issues, so it is a full time job for her.
eBay is like any other "outlet". There are going to be certain things that are saleable on eBay, usually the collectibles, antiques, hard to find stuff. And then you have your hard core eBayers. They will buy and sell everything on eBay. Heck, if they could get their groceries through eBay, they probably would.
Personally? I wouldn't touch eBay. If I have stuff to sell, I'll build my own site and sell it. Or, I'll take it down to a local consignment store.
Internet Success Stories?
I think each and every one of us has had some form of success online. I'm still here after almost 12 years and I'm not broke yet. ;)
I work with an eBay Mom whose sales are almost at the $10k per month mark. It has taken her more than five years to get to that level and she is one of those "Power Sellers".
Given the tiny margins I see on products I know professionally, $120k revenue annually should give her a bottom line of about ... Minimum Wage.
Ebay is great for collectibles... coins, baseball cards, Beanies. But Ebay makes collecting those things so easy that collecting becomes boring for many people and may eventually kill demand. That's my theory anyway.
There are new-fangled psychological "drivers" to trading on Ebay that aren't well understood. Clearly, for some people, profit is a secondary motive.
SO - having sold online for a few years, decided to do a drive and sell 40 plus junk items i had in my house - you know things that were interesting (set of things people wanted but couldnt get) and sold it all --- made over 2,000 in just about 1.5 days of work. Problem is - im out of stuff, and if i had to pay for the stuff it would be a very different story huh
i see one model that seems to be successfl with the ebay marketplace.... merchandisers who have a dropship framework. Theese people buy in such bulk their cost is low low low, then they get 1000s of suckers to auction the products for low margins. Dave espinos program does that --- anyone who signes up for the "auctions for income package" gets a "exclusive" account with one dropshipper. Great since everyone starting out will sell one persons products in a buyers market --- low margins, and who wins --- the dropshipper of course.
to conclude - ebay is a psychological hobby, minus well have a garage sale, at least then you are outside in the fresh air
But then, I'm not a bored stay-at-home mommy who wants her friends to think she's running a business.For most REAL business, selling on EBAY stinks.
What's with the hostility?
It is most definitely possible to be successful on eBay. Its a different model than other web sales, but those that succeed manage to do nicely for themselves - whether they be mothers, fathers, or anyone else.
Alice says the Internet can give moms a big boost in confidence. In a family where the husband is the main breadwinner, working from home can increase a wife's self-worth -- both psychologically and literally.Alice told CNN, "In addition to the monetary gain, [mothers] can feel a sense of accomplishment and eliminate some of the guilt of not contributing to the family finances."
"Confidence"
"Self-worth"
"Sense of accomplishment"
"Eliminate...Guilt"
BTW, article is mostly about Ebay, not internet commerce in general.
jsinger, you don't believe there are real businesses making hundreds of thousands (if not millions) on eBay?
We are an ecommerce company that has its own websites and also sells thru eBay (among others). It is just a different channel for us. The volume, sales and profit are there for our product line and we are able to clear 7 figures with a decent profit margin. We also have employees, a warehouse, automation systems and good buying power.
eBay isn't for everyone. Just as retail isn't and ecommerce isn't..It just depends on your focus and plan.
No need for a supplier, website, domain name, hosting package, secure server, merchant bank account, Google, warehouse, skill, time, or anything much at all. All that's needed is a digital camera.
No wonder some of the moms are thriving.
The most frequent comment is that Ebay is "okay" for dumping overstocks or returned merchandise that can't be sold on our regular websites
[edited by: encyclo at 6:13 pm (utc) on May 30, 2007]
[edit reason] fixed quote tag [/edit]
Any work on a PC requires concentration. Your children - no matter what age - don't understand that you are there, but actually aren't really there, even if you have a separate working-room, which most success-moms do not report they have.
I'm a male and I have my company 15km away from home. I'm happy to be able to do quite a lot of my work from home in principle, but I hardly ever do. My children tend to scratch my notebook monitor with their wooden swords and I hate their flying toys hit my enter-key immediately before I could correct the last figures of the 10k-bulk-order-mail I was just calculating.
> For most REAL business, selling on EBAY stinks.
I'd support that. But to work from home stinks even worse.
...to work from home stinks even worse
It depends on your circumstances and your lifestyle. I'd hate to have to get in a car and drive through traffic twice, simply to get to and from work. That definitely stinks, and costs money too.
Sure. The key issue is a respectable distance and quietness from your family and especially your children. If your house is big enough, this may be possible, but building ground is quite expensive here in germany. Most people can hardly afford more than 500-700 square meters ground and 120-200 sqm inside the house. One of my sons has an electric guitar and the second has just started practicing drums. I tell you...
If you are (still) living alone this is a completely different matter, though even then a certain physical distance between home and work helps to decide both from each other and keep up with your time management.
My children tend to scratch my notebook monitor with their wooden swords
Have you considered denying them access or teaching them not to do this?
